Flat Daddy Gurgler

July 28, 2024 Panfish On The Fly

The original Flat Daddy is the perfect fly for spooky, shallow-water panfish. It lands lightly on the water and can be cast easily with two and three-weight rods. The fly has a very subtle action on the water, diving slightly when retrieved without creating a lot of disturbance that may spook fish in the shallows. It is the perfect early spring topwater fly pattern. Fast-forward to mid-summer, the fish have left the shallows and are now holding in deeper water. You need to get their attention to bring them to the surface now. Enter the Flat Daddy Gurgler.

The Micro Creature

March 24, 2023 Panfish On The Fly

A size 12 Micro Creature tied our new Micro Mop Fibers

The Creature is one of my all-time favorite subsurface patterns for jumbo panfish. The Creature is a mop fly with an extended body that imitates various aquatic foods, including dragonfly nymphs, tadpoles, crayfish, and even small bait fish. It can be tied in multiple colors, but I have always been limited in how small I could tie the fly as the standard mop fibers were too big for hook sizes smaller than a size eight.

The original Creature is a mouthful for most sunfish!

The Creature is quite a mouthful for smaller sunfish. Larger sunfish devour these flies, but small fish sometimes grab it by an appendage or the end of the body and swim off, missing the hook entirely.

The Micro Mop Fibers are thinner and slightly longer than standard fibers.

Last season I was introduced to a new thinner mop material that allows me to tie smaller versions of fly patterns that use mop materials like the Creature. These new thinner fibers also allowed me to create extended-body damsel fly imitations. These new damsel flies proved as effective as the larger Mop Gurglers I tie to imitate larger dragonflies.

A size 12 dragon fly imitation I fished last season to imitate the small brown dragonflies that inhabit my local waters

I spent the better part of last summer testing these new patterns on various flies, and I am happy to announce they passed their field trials with flying colors! I tied Creatures, Mop Gurglars, Damselflies, and many nymph and mop patterns for trout, and I have been thrilled with the results.

The Micro Creature tied as a Euro style jig pattern for trout.

These new mop fibers are available in eleven colors - Natural browns, tans, and olives and bright attractor colors like yellow, sunburst, pink, and purple. In addition, blue damsel and insect green make great extended bodies for the damselflies often found in these bright colors. The color is luminous, and the unique weave gives the fibers a segmented look.

A standard sized Creature tied on a size 8 Mustad 3366. Micro creatures can be tied down to a size 16.

You tie the Micro Creature the same as you would the standard version, but you can scale the size down with these thinner fibers. The feathers from smaller game birds like grouse, partridge, and hens can be used for the hackle. You will also want to scale down the diameter of the rubber legs to ensure the fly still has that great action in the water. The early-season panfish I am catching right now seem to prefer these flies in the 12-14 size range.

A late February bluegill caught on an olive Micro Creature

I am happy to announce that I have secured enough of this material to make it commercially available. I have a good supply of all eleven colors, so they should be around for a while, but I have been wrong about that in the past. So grab them while you can!

Purchase Micro Mop Fibers

The Fly Fishing Show - Lancaster, Pennsylvania

March 1, 2023 Panfish On The Fly

This weekend, I will be tying up some panfish bugs at the Fly Fishing Show in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The Fly Fishing Show is the world’s largest show dedicated to every type of fly fishing imaginable, including us panfish junkies! If you are in the area, stop by and check out the show and be sure to stop by my table and say hello. I would love to meet you and swap some fishing tales.

Notes from The Fly Tying Bench - A Guide to Fly Tying Scissors

February 24, 2023 Panfish On The Fly

If you are shopping for a new pair of fly tying scissors or are looking to get your first pair, the number of choices can be bewildering. This post will explain the differences between the multiple options available to today's fly tier.

Surviving The Off Season

February 17, 2023 Panfish On The Fly

There is no other way to put it. If you are a fly fisher, winter sucks. Sure, you can trudge through the snow, dealing with your fly line frozen in the guides of your fly rod, and suffer the pitfalls of hyperthermia to catch a few sluggish trout. But what if your favorite quarry is a sunfish? I don't know about you, but staring at a hole in the ice just doesn't cut it for me. So how do you get through the off-season without going crazy?